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Greenlee: More surprises ahead

By Bob Greenlee

Posted:
04/14/2013 01:00:00 AM MDT

No one should be shocked when Boulder's City Council fails to take an "off ramp" this Tuesday and proceeds at high speed down its pothole filled municipalization highway. Many believe the decision was baked into the system demonstrating yet again how preferred outcomes make successful use of orchestrated public processes.

Although a number of important issues and questions remain unanswered, or currently unanswerable, it's disconcerting when city public information officials continue cranking out what seems more like endless propaganda than objective and unbiased information. It's pretty obvious to many people that city staffers engaged in various parts of the muni scheme have been over-the-moon about getting their hands on an electric utility to play with. As I've written before, the municipalization effort has always been about power -- not the kind that comes out of your wall socket but the kind that's manipulated by environmental extremists and raw political domination.

Here's a minor example of the city not providing all the facts they claim. Last week the city released a 22-page memo attempting to answer a number of thoughtful questions raised by various members of City Council. Councilmember Cowles questioned the claim that Boulder would distribute 54 percent of its electricity from "renewable" sources. He also asked what cities or towns were currently able to generate that much from renewable sources. The staff's brief response was that Aspen has been producing over 75 percent of its electricity from renewables and is looking forward to achieving 100 percent in the not too distant future. But nowhere in that answer were relevant facts revealed.

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If they had been you would discover that Aspen has operated two hydro-electric plants for decades and is planning to add a third. Hydro is a great source of renewable energy and even Boulder currently produces a modest amount of its electricity from a small plant. Try convincing any dedicated environmentalist to build a new dam near Boulder to produce hydropower and watch them slip into a catatonic state.

Have the city's public information sources ever told you anything other than how wonderfully happy cities and towns are about owning their own electric utility? But have they said much about municipally owned utilities that have been through tough times and are planning to unload their systems to the private sector? Voters in Vero Beach, Florida voted 2 to 1 to do just that last month. Folks in Great Forks, Montana have a long-term plan to sell their muni as well. There's even talk about Colorado Springs wanting to sell their muni.

There are reasons why it's crucial for the city to be totally objective and completely transparent about the vastly complex municipalization effort. Taxpayers have been victims of endless examples where there was a lack of candor when trying to sell things to the public. You might recall promises made back in 2004 when the Regional Transportation District proposed its $4.7 billion (now over $7.4 billion) FasTracks program. Boulder County voters were considered essential to getting the tax passed and received a promised Northwest Heavy Rail project from Denver to Longmont. It was originally estimated to cost around $66 million although it's now obvious RTD had no idea what the whole shebang would cost. Last year the real figure was revealed when they announced their Northwest Rail boondoggle would cost a whopping $1.7 billion! Was there an honest mistake made when the Denver International Airport was estimated to cost around $1.7 billion to build but came in over $4.8 billion. Boston's "Big Dig" was going to cost $14.86 billion until it actually cost taxpayers $24.36 billon. Obama's "affordable" health care program will soon be unaffordable to many when near double-digit cost increases kick in.

Although city policymakers may have convinced themselves it's possible to purchase and operate their own electric utility one unanswered question remains. Why should it?

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